The Toronto International Film Festival's schedule for its 48th edition running 7- 17 September, 2023 is complete and includes 14 German productions and co-productions, three of them world premieres. All directors from Germany will attend the festival, alongside actors Maren Eggert (NOT A WORD) and European Shooting Star Leonie Behnesch (THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE). As the largest North American film festival, TIFF has been like other summer festivals in having to grapple with the effects of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. However, this year will once more see a diverse line-up from the over 200 titles on offer.
The drama NOT A WORD (KEIN WORT) by Hanna Slak will have its first screening in the Platform section. The German-Slovenian-French production follows the conductor Nina, who leads a structured life and pursues an ambitious artistic career. When her teenage son Lars has a strange accident at school, she decides to take time out from city life and together they head for her holiday home on the rugged Atlantic coast. Their already brittle relationship is further strained by their silence and unspoken emotions. The leading actress Maren Eggert (
I’M YOUR MAN) will be in Toronto and present the film.
You might know Eggert as well from previous TIFF titles
THE DREAMED PATH and I WAS AT HOME, BUT. Angela Schanelec's latest film
MUSIC will be screened in the Wavelengths section. Inspired by the Oedipus myth, the drama follows Jon, an adopted child, who faces many hurdles in life. MUSIC has its North American premiere in Toronto.
Another two German world premieres will featured in the Discovery section. The drama ACHILLES by Farhad Delaram is about a young filmmaker in Iran who works in a hospital. When he takes a mentally ill patient out on a short trip, he gradually finds out who she really is.
The road movie ARTHUR & DIANA by Sara Summa won the Le Film Français Award at Locarno’s work-in-progress section First Look last year and will now have its world premiere in Toronto. The plot centres on the two siblings Arthur and Diana who embark on a fateful journey from Berlin to Paris with Diana's two-year-old son.
The Centrepiece section features THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE by Ilker Çatak --just submitted to the German Oscar short list-- alongside four German co-productions. The drama, which premiered at the Berlinale 2023 to much acclaim, revolves around the young teacher Carla who discovers that there have been several thefts at her new school. Carla begins to investigate, thus increasing distrust among the staff, parents and pupils, especially since the main suspect is the mother of her best pupil Oskar.
Perfect Days is a 2023 Japanese film directed by Wim Wenders, from a script written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki.
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 25 May and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for Kōji Yakusho.
Alisi Telengut’s BAIGAL NUUR - LAKE BAIGAL is screening In the short films section Short Cuts. The film, which reimagines the creation and history of Lake Baikal in Siberia, had already enjoyed success at the International Animation Festival in Annecy and received the award for Best International Animated Film at the Golden Ger International Film Festival. Alisi Telengut is a Canadian artist of Mongolian origin, living between Berlin, Germany and Montréal, Canada.
German Films & Co-Productions in Toronto 2023:
Special Presentations
BASTARDEN (THE PROMISED LAND) by Nikolaj Arcel (DK/DE/SE)
FOUR DAUGHTERS by Kaouther Ben Hania (FR/TN/SA/DE)
KIDNAPPED by Marco Bellocchio (IT/FR/DE)
Centrepiece
ABOUT DRY GRASSES by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (TR/FR/DE/SE)
FALLEN LEAVES by Aki Kaurismäki (FI/DE)
SIRA by Apolline Traoré (BF/FR/DE/SN)
THE SETTLERS by Felipe Gálvez (CL/UK/FR/DK/AR/DE)
THE TEACHERS‘ LOUNGE (DAS LEHRERZIMMER) by Ilker Çatak
PERFECT DAYS by Wim Wenders (Japan)
Platform
NOT A WORD (KEIN WORT) by Hanna Slak (DE/SL/FR)
Wavelengths
MUSIC by Angela Schanelec (DE/FR)
Discovery
ACHILLES by Farhad Delaram (DE/IR/FR)
ARTHUR & DIANA by Sara Summa
AN ENDLESS SUNDAY (UNA STERMINATA DOMENICA) by Alain Parroni (IT/DE/IE)
Short Cuts
BAIGAL NUUR – LAKE BAIGAL by Alisi Telengut (DE/CA)
Midnight Madness
BOY KILLS WORLD by Moritz Mohr (US/DE)
source:
German Films
image: Not A Word © Volte
